Monday, October 01, 2007

A Quick Look At Preseason Stats

With the enormous disclaimers that preseason stats mean very little (except for the players trying to make teams) and that the NHL's record-keeping to date has left a lot to be desired, here are some numbers that jumped out at me from the NHL's preseason schedule:

Brent Johnson went 1-1 with a 1.14 goals against average and a .941 save percentage. Bravo.

On the other hand, Olie Kolzig was 2-2 with a 3.49 GAA and a save percentage of .853. Not good.

The powerplay only clicked on five of 48 opportunities, which is 10.4% and fourth-worst in the League. Given the lineups on many nights, this isn't too troubling, but given that San Jose's Devin Setoguchi also had five power play goals in the preseason, I figured it was worth mentioning.

The penalty killers did their job 34 of the 40 times they were sent out there (85% - 14th in the League), thanks in no small part to Dave Steckel's work.

Jeff Schultz was a team-worst minus-six in the preseason. Mike Green and Shaone Morrisonn were each a team-best plus-five.

Michael Nylander and Nicklas Backstrom combined for two assists in 12 man-games.

Matt Pettinger led the team with 17 shots on goal.

The team's goals against average was 3.00. It's going to have to be lower if they're going to make the playoffs. Outshooting opponents 201-165 in seven games, however, is encouraging.

Shots on goal were off 5% compared to 2006 preseason, with opponent's SOG down 15% - good news. And penalties taken by the Caps? They're down 24%.

Finally, checking in with old friends, Kris Beech, Jiri Novotny and Bryan Muir combined for zero points in 12 man-games. Dainius Zubrus had two goals and no helpers in five games for Jersey.

Keeping my fingers crossed on Kolzig. Also, I can't stand to watch another season of Brent Johnson being terrible, so hopefully he can play 20-25 good games. Buccigross picked them 14/15 in the east. They sure have the 'nobody gave us a chance' thing working for them.